Do Good Works For Father Not For Men
Matthew 6:1

    Our Father is in the heavens and is invisible to our physical eyes. Because we cannot physically see him it is an easy matter for us to forget that he is actually watching us at all times, and some might even lose faith that he exist. In general, our great teacher Jesus tells us that we should not practice our righteousness in front of men in order to be observed by them. Rather we should make certain that the works we do for our Father are works for our Father, and only for our Father. Otherwise they are of no value to us in our individual bank accounts in heaven. For example we might think it wise to kill two or three birds with one stone in the way we show love to our neighbor. Our reasoning might be that by blowing a trumpet ahead of us as to our good deeds we will have taught any onlookers a lesson about what kind of works we should be doing for God, secondly we might gain a higher level of social status among our brothers and sisters within our congregation, and thirdly we will have helped a fellow brother or sister who was made in the image of God. But is that sort of reasoning wise? First of all, everyone in our Christian congregation should already know which works acquire treasure in the heavens; otherwise our ministers are not doing their job correctly. Secondly, if we are so keen on gaining a higher social status within our congregation, where then does our heart truly reside? It might be that we are genuinely trying to do good works for God, but are we doing the works of God? That question always remains, unless we obey Jesus and do our good works in private. Finally we must consider the feelings of the person we are helping. If we are making a display out of someone in order to show everyone in our congregation how righteous we are, then do we truly love the one we are helping as our neighbor? Not really. Someone who does this probably  loves the gain of social status within his congregation, or neighborhood. The person he is helping is simply a means by which to selfishly acquire that status. Moreover, most people helped in this manner would probably rather starve to death than receive gifts of mercy in such an embarrassing way. That is especially so if they realize the false motive of the one helping them.
    Now the question might come to mind; how do we let our light to shine on others, if we can't tell anyone? Aren't we hiding our light under a measuring basket? No, we are not hiding our light if we are helping someone in need privately.  We are showing love to the one being helped by considering his feelings and he is seeing our light shine on him.  Secondly we show our Father in the heavens that we have faith our works are being seen by him. Our Father will allow our light to shine on others within our neighborhood. How could the latter case be so? Let us recall what our teacher did when he walked the earth:

Mark 1:40-45 GNB A man suffering from a dreaded skin disease came to Jesus, knelt down, and begged him for help. "If you want to," he said, "you can make me clean." 41 Jesus was filled with pity, and reached out and touched him. "I do want to," he answered. "Be clean!" 42 At once the disease left the man, and he was clean. 43 Then Jesus spoke sternly to him and sent him away at once, 44 after saying to him, "Listen, don't tell anyone about this. But go straight to the priest and let him examine you; then in order to prove to everyone that you are cured, offer the sacrifice that Moses ordered." 45 But the man went away and began to spread the news everywhere. Indeed, he talked so much that Jesus could not go into a town publicly. Instead, he stayed out in lonely places, and people came to him from everywhere.

Notice what occurred after Jesus cured the man, he told everyone he knew. Jesus knew this would happen, observe what he says:

Mark 4:21-23 ASV  And he said unto them, Is the lamp brought to be put under the bushel, or under the bed, and not to be put on the stand?  22  For there is nothing hid, save that it should be manifested; neither was anything made secret, but that it should come to light.  23  If any man hath ears to hear, let him hear.

It is much better for someone else to make our good works public rather than for us, but no matter how secretive we are, we shall not be able to hid it, good or bad.

Proverbs 27:14 GNB You might as well curse your friends as wake them up early in the morning with a loud greeting.

Proverbs 25:6-7 GNB When you stand before the king, don't try to impress him and pretend to be important. 7 It is better to be asked to take a higher position than to be told to give your place to someone more important.

Ecclesiastes 11:6 GNB Do your planting in the morning and in the evening, too. You never know whether it will all grow well or whether one planting will do better than the other.